TANDOORI CHICKEN AND OTHER INDIAN DELIGHTS

I began my love affair with Indian cuisine in the early 80's.  I was being produced by an Englishman, John Anthony who had produced the early recordings of Queen, Genesis and had a #1 hit "How Long Has This Been Going On" with Ace.  I was living on 72nd St. and Columbus Avenue in NYC and there were no Indian restaurants around our neighborhood so we ventured downtown to the Eastside in the Village.  East 6th Street is packed with Indian restaurants and as far as I know equally wonderful.  In those early days of discovery I let John order.  His favorite was Vindaloo, which is a recipe from Goa, on the West coast of India.  It is a combination of Portuguese and Indian in it's origin, consisting of meat (chicken, goat or lamb) and potatoes in a red sauce.  Vindaloos are very hot!  I loved the simplicity and the heat.  John always said that unless you started sweating profusely, you were really enjoying the food.  Over the past 30 years I've come to appreciate many Indian dishes and enjoy preparing them for Charlotte.  I make my own version of Vindaloo and several other less hot dishes.  All Indian food uses a variety of aromatic spices so in that sense it's pretty much all spicy...not necessarily hot however.
One dish that I'd not made is Tandoori.  It's rather mild for one, and I don't have a Tandoori oven.
The other evening I decided to make it anyway.  I made my spice combination, some dried and crushed and some fresh.  This I mixed into yogurt (a few drops of red food coloring to really make the meat beautiful).  5 hours later I had the oven at 550 and placed the chicken in for about a half hour.  I didn't know how long it would take so I watched it closely.  I think I'll be making this recipe from now on when I have a yearning for chicken!  Wow, Charlotte and I loved it.
With this, I made cauliflower in a wok with aromatic spices and fresh cilantro.  Charlotte made the Basmati rice with raisins and we had a side of Indian kidney beans.
There is just something about the aroma of Indian spices that is intoxicating and romantic.  Charlotte likes beer with Indian food, I prefer Champagne.  Regardless what you choose, it's a gastronomic adventure not to be missed.